Fantasy Aftermath: Putting On The Miles

Out with a rib injury, Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams sat out this past Sunday and Austin Miles stepped up to take his place in the starting line-up.

And boy did he step up.

The 4th year backup from Monmouth caught 10 balls for a team record 250 yards. He also caught two touchdowns, one being the game winner. In 2008 Austin only totaled 278 yards an almost caught that many in one game. He will be clearly the most sought after pick-up in leagues that still have him on the waiver wire; however the Cowboys are off next week an come back from the bye facing the Pittsburgh Steelers who are currently 5th in NFL in total defense but are only 14th against the pass. Roy Williams is likely to return after the bye and we have clearly seen Austin’s career game. But will he have value going forward? With the departure of T.O., Tony Romo is free to pass the ball amongst many targets including Jason Witten, Tashard Choice, Roy Williams, and Patrick Crayton.

Remember last year when Donnie Avery caught six passes for 163 yars and a touchdown against the Pats? The performance ended up being a one hit wonder for his season as he went back to lackluster numbers. Now Austin has a better passer in Tony Romo but the situation doesn’t look good for him becoming a breakout fantasy stud after the bye. It is a situation worth looking at, just don’t pay too much for him.

Patriots Pride

I always get nervous went a game goes into overtime. I feel that there’s a bit too much luck involved when a coin flip determines who goes first in a sudden death situation. That’s what happened last year when Brett Favre dealt a loss to Matt Cassel.

I mentioned in the last 4 Sport Boston podcast I recorded that Tom Brady looks like Peyton Manning last year: a stud quarterback trying to get back into his rhythm after injury. I think Tom is slowly but surely getting better every game and I hope that down the stretch he’ll be back in his groove. I’m not hoping he returns to 2007 Brady, I don’t think we’re seeing that again, but it certainly possible for him to get back into 2004 form- the year we last won the Super Bowl.

The Patriots jersey in my closet right now happens to be Laurence Maroney’s and I’m beginning to think I need to find a replacement soon. With Fragile Freddy off getting ankle surgery, Sammy Morris is back in the top RB slot. He didn’t look too bad with his 68 yards over 17 carries. It’s good to see Wes Welker getting back into the thick of things and Julian Edelman is becoming an interest name in the WR corp. Joey Galloway was inactive again for the second week in the row- I hope he’s enjoying the dog house along with Maroney. Galloway is to the Patriots as John Smoltz is to the Red Sox.

Reading The Box Scores & Watching The Highlights

• When I started playing Carson Palmer and Marc Bulger were top tier Quarterbacks. Now  Bulger is a shell of his peak years but Palmer isn’t that bad as a QB2to
• Cedric Benson maybe for real- not as a RB1 but if you have him as a flex
• I can’t wait for Chad Ohocinco to pull off another crazy TD celebration, and with the way he’s performing I think he will.
• Ray Rice & Willis McGahee are the new Chris Johnson and LenDale White. Ray Rice runs between the 20s and is involved in the passing game, McGahee is the short yardage battering ram.
• You see 117 yards from Jamal Lewis, I see 31 attempts which equals 3.7 per carry- his average in 2008 was 3.6.
• Sell high on Clinton Portis after his 2 TD game? Well the schedule ahead looks a little challenging, the question is- how much do you trust the Redskins this year?
• Ben Roethlisberger has more touchdowns this season than Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner and Tony Romo. I wouldn’t say a repeat of 2007 is out of the picture.
• We saw how turf toe bothered Darren McFadden all last year, how will it affect Willie Parker and will he get his job back with Rashard Mendenhall playing so well?
• Just a gut feeling but Matt Cassel could be heating up for the Chiefs.
• Ahmad Bradshaw isn’t that bad as a flex going forward, he tore up the Raiders like nobodies business, now if Brandon Jacobs could get in on the fun…
• Rib injury? What rib injury. McNabb looked totally fine as he threw, ran, and dove all over the field.
• People maybe talking about Jeremy Maclin’s big game, but I think Brent Celek deserves some credit for that awesome leap over Ronde Barber’s head!
• You know who’s the number one rusher is in Minnesota, but do we really know who’s the number one receiver? Both Rice and Harvin caught some passes but along with Berrian they all have similar stats to date.
• Stephen Jackson didn’t do too bad against the Vikings D, now if he was only on a better team…
• Welcome back to fantasy football Michael Turner and Roddy White.
• When Gore is out, Glen Coffee is going to get all the touches but he hasn’t convinced me he’s anything more than a RB2 when he starts.
• Larry Fitzgerald had a good game this week but both him and Anquan Boldin have yet to have a 100 yard recieving game.
• Matt Hasselbeck returned from injury with a vengeance, 2 of his 4 TDs went to Nate Burleson who will no longer be ignored in fantasy this week.
• The Colts are very much like The Saints, they are both high powered passing attacks which will always make fantasy owners wonder which reciever will have the big game .
• I didn’t get back from rehearsal til late last night and I only saw the last quarter of the Jets-Dolphins game. However it appears that all I needed to see- Chad Henne looked good, and the Wildcat was exciting to watch.
• All the talk last night was about Braylon Edwards resurgence after being traded, I do want to note that Thomas Jones needs to thank Braylon for the two penalties that gave TJ all those goal line runs.

I Rock At Fantasy Football

After Week 5 I went 4-1 in my leagues.

4 Sport Boston League: L (2-3)

DC-Boston League: W (3-2)

Couch League: W (3-2)

James Bond League: W (4-1)

Fantasy Football Librarian League: W (3-2)

Related posts:

1. Fantasy Football: So Many Teams So Little Time
2. Fantasy Football: Second Stringers
3. Fantasy Football: Brian Westbrook Hates Me
4. Fantasy Football: Week 1 Review
5. Fantasy Football: Ashton Kutcher: Prankster, Actor, and Fantasy Football Guru